Monday, April 13, 2015

Iraq snapshot

Monday, April 11, 2015. Chaos and violence continue, threats force Reuters journalist Ned Parker out of Iraq, the country's prime minister Haider al-Abadi arrives in DC with a long list for Santa Claus, and much more.

It has been nearly nine months since Jason was arrested. Now
comes word via an Iranian news agency that Jason will face espionage
charges. Any charges­ of that sort would be absurd, the product of
fertile and twisted imaginations. We are left to repeat our call on the
Iranian government to release Jason and, in the meantime, we are
counting on his lawyer to mount a vigorous defense.

J. Dana Stuster also notes:

Separately, Reuters’ Baghdad bureau chief, Ned Parker, left Iraq this week after credible threats were made against his life. The threats followed a Reuters investigation
into human rights abuses in the battle to retake Tikrit from the
Islamic State and its aftermath. Parker was threatened on Facebook by
people believed to be affiliated with Shia militias operating in Iraq
and a television program funded by one of the militias “accused the
reporter and Reuters of denigrating Iraq and its government-backed
forces, and called on viewers to demand Parker be expelled.” The State
Department has reportedly raised the issue of press intimidation with
the Iraqi government, but a spokesperson for Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi said that the safety of the press “has improved significantly
since this prime minister took over” and encouraged members of the press
to reach out to police if they are threatened.

Ned Parker is a journalist who has long covered Iraq. He distinguished himself first at the Los Angeles Times. There, among other stories, he broke the news on Nouri al-Maliki's secret prisons. At Reuters, he's continued to break important stories.

Three days later, the television station Al-Ahd, owned by the
Iranian-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, broadcast a report on Parker
including his photo. The television report accused Parker and Reuters of
defaming Iraq and urged viewers demand the reporter he expelled,
Reuters said.
An April 3 report by Parker and two colleagues detailed human rights
abuses in Tikrit after government forces and Iranian-backed militias
captured Tikrit from Islamic State militants. Reuters said two of its
reporters saw an Islamic State fighter lynched by Iraqi national police.
The report also described widespread looting and arson in the city,
which local politicians blamed on Iranian-backed militias.

James Gordon Meek (ABC News) adds, "The blatant killing of a prisoner in front of the journalists was one of
the most alarming examples of the types of war crimes committed with
apparent impunity by Iraqi Security Forces and uncovered in a six-month ABC News investigation
that aired in March on "World News Tonight With David Muir." It also
comes on the eve of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's White House
huddle with President Obama on Tuesday."

NINA does not publish -- any longer -- violence on the day of.
It publishes reports the next day. So right now you can't find out
about Sunday's violence but come Monday you can.What's going on?Al Mada's doing nothing.It's a ghost of its former self.In that instance, it's supposedly agreed to silence its own voice to 'help' the new government.Many other outlets in Iraq are 'helping' or under intimidation.I've heard about [it] from Iraqis reporting for various outlets and kept
waiting to see a major report on it from the west. Instead, they don't
even note it.Dar Addustour has been covering in reporting and, last week, columnist As Sheikh also weighed in.
Noting the problems facing the Iraqi press, he called for a fund to be
set up to support the press and the freedom it is supposed to have.It is amazing that the press which managed to push back against thug Nouri al-Maliki is now a victim of Haider al-Abadi.In fairness to Haider, some -- like Al Mada -- are silencing
themselves. They think it's for 'the good' of the country (two
different reporters for the paper have e-mailed about that -- they do
not agree with the paper's policy).

And Thursday's snapshot
noted Haider al-Abadi's attack on the press -- in a speech the press
covered, one he gave in Falluja, but somehow all the outlets covering
the speech failed to cover Haider's attack on the press.

By the 8th, when Ned Parker's picture was being broadcast on TV with a
call to kill him, Haider was in Falluja declaring that there were
elements of the media working against the struggle.

The attacks on Ned Parker had already begun, the threats already publicly made and Haider deliberately threw gas on the fire.

Haider did everything but call Ned Parker a member of the Islamic State.

Since
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi took office a series of significant
steps have been taken to cultivate an environment where free speech is
fostered in both local and foreign media. Bans on several networks have
been lifted and journalists are encouraged to perform their job with
freedom and integrity even when that entails criticising the government.
When the Prime Minister's office was informed of Mr
Ned Parker's concerns over certain broadcasts and segments on local
channels we immediately ensured that he was safe in his compound which
is fortified and guarded by a well equipped Iraqi police force. We
requested that Mr. Parker report to the police details of what he
believed to be a serious threat on his life and offered him protection.
The broadcasts on those channels were primarily directed against the
Iraqi government accusing it of being too lenient on Reuters, which, in
their view, had reported stories that were not accurate. We staunchly
oppose any bullying, intimidation

towards the media and any attempts to curb and encumber freedom of speech.
We are committed to developing
and bolstering a free press which we will take painstaking
measures to protect, and is fundamental to our vision of a free and
democratic Iraq.

More empty words from a US-installed puppet who's accomplished nothing to point to with pride.

You'll notice he doesn't mention his remarks in Falluja.

You'll notice that it's the only press release in the last 7 days that he hasn't issued in English.

Iraq's Ambassador to the US is Lukman Faily. Today, he took questions online at Twitter. We'll note this exchange with the Washington Post's Liz Sly.

Saturday, Iraq Times reported Haider's government has decided to shutter all radio stations and TV stations which are linked to government institutions or ministries. The reason being given? It's supposed to be a cost-saving measure.

At today's US State Dept press briefing, spokesperson Marie Harft couldn't be bothered with the topic -- remember, the administration must not acknowledge any problems related to Iran, they must keep their mouth shut as they've done forever in order to try and get a deal -- some deal, any deal -- with Iran. But at today's United Nations briefing, Stephane Dujarric (United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson) noted:

The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI)
said that on 9 April a Reuters correspondent was forced to leave Iraq
after being subjected to threats against his life on social media. This
follows criticism of a report filed by his Bureau on violations against
civilians and civilian property perpetrated by pro-Government militias
following the liberation of Tikrit from Da’esh.

The Mission has underscored that freedom of expression and the right
to impart and to receive information underpin democracy and the rule of
law. It is incumbent on the Government to do all it can to ensure the
protection of domestic and international journalists and media
professionals in carrying out their duties, and to send the clear
message that threats against media professionals are not acceptable,
said the UN mission.

The Committee to Protect Journalists today
called on Iraqi authorities to investigate death threats against
Reuters' bureau chief in Baghdad and ensure that journalists are able to
work in Iraq without fear of reprisal. Ned Parker was forced to flee Iraq following death threats, Reuters reported on Saturday.

"Threats aimed at silencing
journalists, no matter from where they come, cannot be tolerated. The
Iraqi people deserve to know and to share information about the extreme
violence and volatility wracking their nation," said Sherif Mansour,
CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, from New York.
"We call on authorities in Baghdad to investigate this act of
intimidation and hold the perpetrators to account."[. . .]Journalists in Iraq, particularly local ones, have been under threat
as the security situation in the country has deteriorated, according to
local press freedom groups including the Journalists Freedom Observatory.

So before Barack puts on his Santa suit, he might, for once, realize that the US government is in a position of strength and it can insist that various reforms have to be implemented -- not just given lip service -- before any deliveries take place or any reconstruction funds are given or loaned.

This is a chance to use the diplomatic tool box. This is a chance to offer the carrot or the stick.

Barack's not been very good at that.

He's been good at bombing.

He especially loves fly over bombings -- which he then tries to pretend are not combat actions.

Under pressure from American officials here, Iraq
has withdrawn Shiite militiamen from the Ramadi area in Anbar Province,
and the American-led coalition immediately responded by stepping up
bombing raids to support Iraqi forces battling extremists of the Islamic
State there, according to Iraqi officials involved in the decision.

The
American ambassador, Stuart E. Jones, met Saturday with Anbar tribal
leaders and provincial officials and expressed his dissatisfaction that
Shiite militiamen were in the thick of a local offensive against the
Islamic State near the Anbar provincial capital, according to two
participants in the meeting, interviewed Sunday.

The same thing with Tikrit, remember?

Maybe on the visit, Barack could make that an existing condition? Maybe explain to Haider no bombs dropped from on high when Shi'ite militias are running wild in the area?

When
hundreds of people marched to the Los Angeles City Council last
October, urging it to pass a resolution supporting a farm worker union
fight taking place in California's San Joaquin Valley, hardly anyone had
ever heard the name of the company involved. That may not be the case
much longer. Gerawan Farming, one of the country's largest growers, with
5,000 people picking its grapes and peaches, is challenging the
California law that makes farm workers' union rights enforceable. Lining
up behind Gerawan are national anti-union think tanks. What began as a
local struggle by one grower family to avoid a union contract is getting
bigger, and the stakes are getting much higher.

The Gerawan workers got the City Council's support and, on February 10,
the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education passed a
resolution that went beyond just an encouraging statement. The LAUSD
purchases Gerawan's Prima label peaches and grapes through suppliers for
1,270 schools and 907,000 students. The LAUSD's resolution, proposed by
board member Steve Zimmer, requires the district to verify that Gerawan
Farming is abiding by state labor laws, "and to immediately implement
the agreement issued by the neutral mediator and the state of
California."

Verifying compliance, however, may not be easy. In mid-March a hearing
on Gerawan's violations of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA)
ended after 104 days of testimony by 130 witnesses. According to the
Agricultural Labor Relations' Board's general counsel, Sylvia
Torres-Guillén, and its regional director in Visalia, Silas Shawver,
Gerawan mounted an intense campaign against the United Farm Workers
after the union requested bargaining in October 2012. According to the
board, Gerawan sought to "undermine the UFW's status as its employees'
bargaining representative; to turn its employees against the union; to
promote decertification of the UFW; and to prevent the UFW from ever
representing its employees under a collective bargaining agreement."

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.